Grapes of Wrath essay

820 WordsMay 7th, 20144 Pages

Grapes of Wrath
Book and Film Comparison
John Steinbeck was an American author of twenty-seven books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books, and numerous short stories. Steinbeck is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men. Born in Salinas, California in 1902, Steinbeck spent most of his life in Monterey County, the setting of much of his fiction such as the novel Cannery Row, a novel depicting the canning Co in Monterey at the time . He attended Stanford University between 1920-1926. Steinbeck did not graduate from Stanford, but instead chose to support himself through manual labor while writing. Being part of the labor force during this time greatly…show more content…

The Grapes of Wrath exhibits several American themes such as of hard work and self-determination. This realist novel is really the first literature to shed light on life during the Dust Bowl. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction.
In 1940, a film adaptation is made. Its directed by John Ford. The screenplay was written by Nunnally Johnson and the executive producer was Darryl F. Zanuck. This film is loosely based on the movie with countless differences, including an entirely different ending. As the film progresses, it veers further and further away from staying true to the novel. Overall the film brought an interesting interpretation to the novel and even introduced some of its own ideas and themes. The movie won Oscars for best director and best actress (Jane Darwell as Ma Joad) and was nominated for five others, including best actor for Henry Fonda and best picture.
The book and film of Grapes of Wrath contrast in numerous ways. Since that book is so long, dozens of scenes have been excluded from the film so that it keeps the audience's attention. The film excludes all of the inner chapters, short stories that depict what it was like during the great depression. Some inner chapters are merely stories that represent something much bigger. The lack of inner chapters removes Steinbeck's political references to events occurring during the time. Both book and movie fulfill the

The Grapes of Wrath, many concepts appear that were noted in How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster. However, the three chapters of Foster’s how-to guide that most apply to Steinbeck’s novel were “It’s All About Sex…,” “Every Trip is a Quest (Except When It’s Not),” and “It’s More Than Just Rain or Snow.” On more than one occasion these concepts are hidden within the book, and two of them actually seem somewhat linked together. After reading between the lines, The Grapes of Wrath…

The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath is set in the horrible stage of our American history, the Depression. Economic, social, and historical surroundings separate the common man of America into basically the rich and poor. A basic theme is that man turns against one another in a selfish pride to only protect themselves. For example, the landowners create a system in which migrants are treated like animals and pushed along from one roadside camp to the next. They are denied decent wages and forced…

John Steinbeck’s novel, The Grapes of Wrath is one of the most influential books in American History, and is considered to be his best work by many. It tells the story of one family’s hardship during the Depression and the Dust Bowl of the 1930’s. The Joads were a hard-working family with a strong sense of togetherness and morals; they farmed their land and went about their business without bothering anyone. When the big drought came it forced them to sell the land they had lived on since before…

Briseida Miranda
Period 3
2/25/13
The Grapes of Wrath Study Questions
1. The importance of the land to the people
a) Why are the Joads and thousands like them thrown off the land?
Due to increased demands during the time, the Joads and thousands like them had spent a great sum of money purchasing farming equipment. However as these demands decreased, farmers were left in major debt. Since the farmers were not able to pay off the debt, they were “thrown off” their land…

Sociology
M, 2-5
Grapes of Wrath Essay
This assignment allowed me the opportunity to use my sociological perspective to analyze the film The Grapes of Wrath'. The Grapes of Wrath is a book made into a movie, based on the great depression of the 30's. It follows the Joad family, who has been forced off their family farm by the government, as they try to find a new settlement and head west to California after receiving flyers for high wage work in fruit orchards. This true story does an…

Grapes of Wrath
1. The protagonist of this story is Tom Joad. Tom must overcome several conflicts when he is paroled from jail and let out into an economically depressed country. Tom's physical conflict throughout the novel is the task of surviving the horrible starving conditions of America's Great Depression. He also has physical conflicts with people who only wish to destroy the hopes of migrant workers such as the police and strikebreakers. Tom's emotional conflict deals with his inability…

In the epic movie Grapes of Wrath, director John Ford depicted a saga of one family trying to survive the 1930’s. In watching this film, it helped me to understand the hardships of the American migrants. The characters showed unique traits and dealt with problems each in a different way.The Dust Bowl was an ecological and human disaster that took place in the southwestern Great Plains region, including Oklahoma. Misuse of land and years of sustained drought caused it. Millions of acres of farmland…

John Steinbeck uses symbolism to enrich his writing. Several of these symbols can be found in his book, The Grapes of Wrath. The Joad’s, a family from Oklahoma, are in search of a better life. They leave their home in journey to California because of the dust bowl. The symbols in the book are the dust, the turtle, names of people, and the grapes. These symbols give the reader an additional perspective of the book. Dust represents life and death. Dust makes a mess of things and leaves possessions…

or in history books. We have seen the pain and struggle that these people must go through in order to survive. This novel, The Grapes of Wrath, relates to some of the many times of violence and cruelty that this America has seen.
During the Dust Bowl, hundreds of thousands of southerners faced many hardships, which is the basis of the novel called The Grapes of Wrath. It was written to portray the harsh conditions during the Dust Bowl. When one considers the merit of this novel, one thinks, how…

Grapes of Wrath
The book, Grapes of Wrath, follows the life of the Joad family, who live in Oklahoma during the Depression. The story begins with the return of Tom Joad from prison, where he has spent the last few years. He killed a boy in a bar fight and is now on parole. He is taken by surprise when he returns to Oklahoma only to find that his house is in ruins and his family is not there. He doesn’t know that, while he was gone, the banks forced his family and thousands of others off their…